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Gardner Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Gardner Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$233k
Granted FY2025still arriving
60
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$10k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Arts & Culture$434kHuman Services$273kHealth$246kEducation$183kFood & Nutrition$127kYouth Development$122kHousing & Shelter$116kEmployment$34kOther$0
02FY2025 · 60 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k59 grants · $223k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $10k
$3,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$1.6M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
FEEDING AMERICA EASTERN WISCONSIN$10,000
HUNGER TASK FORCE INC$8,500
GRAND AVENUE CLUB$7,500
PATHFINDERS$7,000
MILWAUKEE RESCUE MISSION$7,000
WALKERS POINT YOUTH & FAMILY CENTER$6,000
MILWAUKEE INSTITUTE OF ARTS & DESIG$5,600
WISCONSIN CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC$5,500
ALVERNO COLLEGE$5,000
WISCONSIN LUTHER CHILD & FAMILY SER$5,000
SHEPHERDS MINISTRIES$5,000
HEAR WISCONSIN INC$5,000
LA CAUSA INC$5,000
WELLPOINT CARE NETWORK$5,000
ASCENSION WISCONSIN FOUNDATION$5,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY17–25, $196k) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%ST JOSEPH ACADEMY INC: $4k → 17%NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE OF MILWAUKEE: $5k → 17%SOJOURNER TRUTH HOUSE: $4k → 17%SOJOURNER TRUTH HOUSE: $4k → 17%NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE OF MILWAUKEE: $4k → 17%SOJOURNER TRUTH HOUSE: $4k → 17%NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE OF MILWAUKEE: $3k → 17%NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE OF MILWAUKEE: $3k → 17%LUTHERAN COUNSELING AND FAMILY SERV: $4k → 17%LUTHERAN COUNSELING AND FAMILY SERV: $4k → 17%SECUREFUTURES FOUNDATION INC: $3k → 17%SECURE FUTURES: $3k → 17%SECUREFUTURES FOUNDATION INC: $3k → 17%MAKE A DIFFERENCE WISCONSIN: $3k → 17%SECUREFUTURES FOUNDATION INC: $3k → 17%SECURE FUTURES: $3k → 17%SECUREFUTURES FOUNDATION INC: $3k → 17%HEAR WISCONSIN INC: $6k → 17%HEAR WISCONSIN INC: $5k → 17%HEAR WISCONSIN INC: $5k → 17%HEAR WISCONSIN INC: $5k → 17%WALKERS POINT YOUTH & FAMILY CENTER: $6k → 17%WALKERS POINT YOUTH & FAMILY CENTER: $6k → 17%JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES: $5k → 17%JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES: $4k → 17%JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES: $4k → 17%JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES: $4k → 17%JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES: $3k → 17%JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES: $3k → 17%ST JOSEPH ACADEMY: $3k → 17%JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES: $3k → 17%ST JOSEPH ACADEMY: $3k → 17%UNITED COMMUNITY CENTER: $5k → 17%UNITED COMMUNITY CENTER: $4k → 17%UNITED COMMUNITY CENTER: $4k → 17%UNITED COMMUNITY CENTER: $3k → 17%UNITED COMMUNITY CENTER: $3k → 17%MILWAUKEE CENTER FOR INDEPENDENCE: $4k → 17%UNITED COMMUNITY CENTER: $3k → 17%UNITED COMMUNITY CENTER: $3k → 17%WALKERS POINT YOUTH & FAMILY CENTER: $3k → 17%MILWAUKEE CENTER FOR INDEPENDENCE: $3k → 17%PATHFINDERS: $7k → 17%PATHFINDERS: $7k → 17%PATHFINDERS: $5k → 17%PATHFINDERS: $5k → 17%PATHFINDERS: $3k → 17%PATHFINDERS: $3k → 17%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

93%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.5M · 91 repeat orgs$110k to everyone else

91 repeat relationships: 53 still active in FY2025, 38 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

91
33

Total granted

$1.5M
$85k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+23%
+30%

Still filing today

74%
55%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 89% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $25k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureEducationHuman ServicesHealthHousing & ShelterYouth DevelopmentOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • HUNGER TASK FORCE INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $65k · revenue +70%
  • FEEDING AMERICA EASTERN WISCONSIN INC
    8× · 2017–2025 · $62k · revenue +49%
  • AW
    ASCENSION WISCONSIN FOUNDATION INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $45k · revenue +313%

Funded once

  • PM
    PABST MANSION INCgraduated
    one grant, 2024 · $8k · revenue +96%
  • CU
    CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY INC
    one grant, 2023 · $4k · revenue 0%
  • HIGHLAND COMMUNITY SCHOOL INCgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $4k · revenue +33%
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Milwaukee Public Theatre Inc

Making the arts accessible to all

—
2
Milwaukee Excellence Inc

The mission of the organization is to provide a high quality education for all students with choices after graduation that will provide financial stability, inspire personal freedom to builda legacy.

—
3
Artworks for Milwaukee Inc

ArtWorks mission is preparing youth for tomorrow by providing transferable career skills through arts internships today. More than 1,450 high school students have completed ArtWorks internships since our inception.

Arts & Culture
4
Museum of Wisconsin Art Inc

The museum of wisconsin art celebrates the value, diversity, and uniqueness of the visual arts and artists of wisconsin. this is achieved by collecting, conserving, documenting, exhibiting, and promoting aesthetic understanding of the…

Arts & Culture
5
Milwaukee Community Service Corps Inc

The milwaukee community service corps (mcsc) is a non-profit vocational training organization providing employment, education and life skills to training youth adults and unemployed and underemployed of milwaukee, wisconsin.

Employment
6
Wisconsin Policy Forum Inc

We conduct impartial public policy research and analysis to drive informed debate and effective decision-making in the state of wisconsin.

Public Benefit
7
Employ Milwaukee Inc

The mission of employ milwaukee, inc. is to build a strong workforce development system by planning, coordinating, collaborating and monitoring workforce initiatives with businesses, partners and community stakeholders at the local,…

Employment
8
Milwaukee Women Inc

Milwaukee women inc is an organization of executives determined to change the quality and composition of corporate boards to maximize the performance of public and private companies with a focus on women and women of color.

Education
9
Nonprofit Center of Milwaukee Inc

To promote interests and effectiveness of the nonprofit sector through strengthening organizational capacity, expanding volunteerism and encouraging collaboration.

—
10
Milwaukee Bar Association Inc

The mission of the milwaukee bar association is to be an inclusive, equitable and diverse organization that serves the interests of the lawyers, judges and the people of milwaukee county by working to promote the professional interests of…

—
11
The University School of Milwaukee Corporation

University school of milwaukee cultivates excellence in learning, leadership, and citizenship for prekindergarten through 12th grade students. students are engaged, known, and valued within our passionate independent school community…

Education
12
Montessori Institute of Milwaukee Inc

Montessori institute teaches and develops programs to montessori instructors to educate them as to montessori teaching methods

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is First Stage Milwaukee; the most unlike its peers is Xalaat Africa Drum & Dance for Life. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

92 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 92 of the 132 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
19
Early backer (in before they grew)
89/92
Grantees still filing
67/92
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

HUNGER TASK FORCE INC: $65,000 · OtherHUNGER TASK FORCE INCTHE GATHERING: $50,000 · OtherTHE GATHERINGMILWAUKEE RESCUE MISSION: $40,500 · OtherMILWAUKEE RESCUE MISSIONGRAND AVENUE CLUB INC: $36,500 · OtherMETA HOUSE INC: $32,000 · OtherTHE SALVATION ARMY: $29,000 · OtherBEYOND VISION INC: $28,500 · OtherST MARCUS LUTHERAN CHURCH: $27,000 · OtherASCENSION WISCONSIN FOUNDATION INC: $45,000 · OtherASCENSION WISCONSIN FOUNDATION INC+57 more: $389,485 · Other+57 moreMILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM INC: $41,250 · Arts & CultureMILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM I…MILWAUKEE BALLET COMPANY INC: $30,346 · Arts & CultureMILWAUKEE BALLET COMPA…WISCONSIN CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC INC: $29,500 · Arts & CultureWISCONSIN CONSERVATORY…FIRST STAGE MILWAUKEE: $20,596 · Arts & CultureFIRST STAGE MILWAUKEEFLORENTINE OPERA COMPANY INC: $20,096 · Arts & CultureFLORENTINE OPERA COMPA…MILWAUKEE CHAMBER THEATRE LTD: $18,846 · Arts & CultureMILWAUKEE CHAMBER THEA…Optimist Theatre: $18,596 · Arts & CultureOptimist TheatreWOODLAND PATTERN INC: $16,346 · Arts & CultureARTS AT LARGE INC: $15,000 · Arts & CultureNEXT ACT THEATRE INC: $13,500 · Arts & CultureFRANKLY MUSIC INC: $13,346 · Arts & CultureBETTY BRINN CHILDREN'S MUSEUM INC: $13,000 · Arts & Culture+16 more: $74,593 · Arts & Culture+16 morePATHFINDERS MILWAUKEE INC: $32,000 · Human ServicesPATHFINDERS M…HEAR Wisconsin Inc: $26,500 · Human ServicesHEAR Wisconsi…JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES INC: $26,000 · Human ServicesJEWISH FAMILY…UNITED COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $25,000 · Human ServicesUNITED COMMUN…SECUREFUTURES FOUNDATION INC: $20,500 · Human ServicesSECUREFUTURES…NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE OF MILWAUKEE INC: $14,500 · Human ServicesNEIGHBORHOOD …WALKER'S POINT YOUTH AND FAMILY CENTER INC: $14,500 · Human ServicesWALKER'S POIN…SOJOURNER FAMILY PEACE CENTER INC: $12,000 · Human ServicesSOJOURNER FAM…ST JOSEPH ACADEMY INC: $9,000 · Human ServicesMILWAUKEE CENTER FOR INDEPENDENCE INC: $8,500 · Human ServicesLUTHERAN COUNSELING AND FAMILY SERVICES: $7,000 · Human ServicesPENFIELD CHILDREN'S CENTER INC: $33,500 · HealthPENFIELD …Core El Centro Incorporated: $24,500 · HealthCore El C…VISION FORWARD ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED: $22,000 · HealthVISION FO…BROADSCOPE DISABILITY SERVICES INC: $19,000 · HealthBROADSCOP…CENTER FOR DEAF-BLIND PERSONS INC: $14,500 · HealthCENTER FO…ISLANDS OF BRILLIANCE INC: $14,500 · HealthISLANDS O…HOPE STREET MINISTRY INC: $5,000 · Health+1 more: $2,000 · HealthCOLLEGE POSSIBLE INC: $23,800 · EducationCOLLEGE P…Pearls for Teen Girls Inc: $17,000 · EducationPearls fo…DISCOVERY WORLD LTD: $16,000 · EducationDISCOVERY…LA CAUSA INC: $14,000 · EducationLA CAUSA …ST AUGUSTINE PREPARATORY ACADEMY INC: $11,000 · EducationST AUGUST…LITERACY SERVICES OF WISCONSIN INC: $11,000 · EducationLITERACY …SHEPHERDS MINISTRIES INC: $9,000 · EducationSHEPHERDS…MALAIKA EARLY LEARNING CENTER: $7,000 · EducationTHE MILWAUKEE SCIENCE EDUCATION CONSORTIUM INC: $7,000 · EducationALVERNO COLLEGE: $5,000 · Education+4 more: $13,200 · Education+4 moreHOPE HOUSE OF MILWAUKEE INCORPORATED: $27,000 · Housing & ShelterREPAIRERS OF THE BREACH INC: $24,500 · Housing & ShelterThe Guest House of Milwaukee Inc: $13,500 · Housing & ShelterMILWAUKEE HABITAT FOR HUMANITY INC: $5,000 · Housing & ShelterFEEDING AMERICA EASTERN WISCONSIN INC: $61,500 · Food & Nutrition
Other$742,985Arts & Culture$325,015Human Services$195,500Health$135,000Education$134,000Housing & Shelter$70,000Food & Nutrition$61,500

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetHUNGER TASK FORCE INC: $65,000 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetFEEDING AMERICA EASTERN WISCONSIN INC: $61,500 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetASCENSION WISCONSIN FOUNDATION INC: $45,000 over 9y, 0.2% of budgetMILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM INC: $41,250 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetGRAND AVENUE CLUB INC: $36,500 over 7y, 0.6% of budgetPENFIELD CHILDREN'S CENTER INC: $33,500 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetMETA HOUSE INC: $32,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetPATHFINDERS MILWAUKEE INC: $32,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetMILWAUKEE BALLET COMPANY INC: $30,346 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetWISCONSIN CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC INC: $29,500 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetBEYOND VISION INC: $28,500 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetHOPE HOUSE OF MILWAUKEE INCORPORATED: $27,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetHEAR Wisconsin Inc: $26,500 over 7y, 0.3% of budgetJEWISH FAMILY SERVICES INC: $26,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetUNITED COMMUNITY CENTER INC: $25,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetMILWAUKEE INSTITUTE OF ART & DESIGN INC: $24,696 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetREPAIRERS OF THE BREACH INC: $24,500 over 6y, 0.7% of budgetCore El Centro Incorporated: $24,500 over 8y, 0.4% of budgetCOLLEGE POSSIBLE INC: $23,800 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetMILWAUKEE YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC: $22,346 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetVISION FORWARD ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED: $22,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetFIRST STAGE MILWAUKEE: $20,596 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetSECUREFUTURES FOUNDATION INC: $20,500 over 7y, 0.4% of budgetFLORENTINE OPERA COMPANY INC: $20,096 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetBROADSCOPE DISABILITY SERVICES INC: $19,000 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetMILWAUKEE CHAMBER THEATRE LTD: $18,846 over 7y, 0.4% of budgetOptimist Theatre: $18,596 over 7y, 2.3% of budgetPearls for Teen Girls Inc: $17,000 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetWOODLAND PATTERN INC: $16,346 over 6y, 1.2% of budgetDISCOVERY WORLD LTD: $16,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetBIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF GREEN COUNTY INC: $16,000 over 6y, 1.6% of budgetARTS AT LARGE INC: $15,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetCENTER FOR DEAF-BLIND PERSONS INC: $14,500 over 5y, 1.0% of budgetNEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE OF MILWAUKEE INC: $14,500 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetISLANDS OF BRILLIANCE INC: $14,500 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetWALKER'S POINT YOUTH AND FAMILY CENTER INC: $14,500 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetLA CAUSA INC: $14,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetThe Guest House of Milwaukee Inc: $13,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetNEXT ACT THEATRE INC: $13,500 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetFRANKLY MUSIC INC: $13,346 over 7y, 2.0% of budgetBETTY BRINN CHILDREN'S MUSEUM INC: $13,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetSOJOURNER FAMILY PEACE CENTER INC: $12,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetSTEM FORWARD INC: $12,000 over 4y, 1.0% of budgetMILWAUKEE JEWISH FEDERATION INC: $11,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetST AUGUSTINE PREPARATORY ACADEMY INC: $11,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetLITERACY SERVICES OF WISCONSIN INC: $11,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetCHILDREN'S OUTING ASSOCIATION: $9,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetST JOSEPH ACADEMY INC: $9,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

  • Who funds HUNGER TASK FORCE INC ↗
  • Who funds FEEDING AMERICA EASTERN WISCONSIN INC ↗
  • Who funds ASCENSION WISCONSIN FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds MILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM INC ↗
  • Who funds GRAND AVENUE CLUB INC ↗
  • Who funds PENFIELD CHILDREN'S CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds META HOUSE INC ↗
  • Who funds PATHFINDERS MILWAUKEE INC ↗
  • Who funds MILWAUKEE BALLET COMPANY INC ↗
  • Who funds WISCONSIN CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC INC ↗
  • Who funds BEYOND VISION INC ↗
  • Who funds HOPE HOUSE OF MILWAUKEE INCORPORATED ↗
  • Who funds HEAR Wisconsin Inc ↗
  • Who funds JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES INC ↗
  • Who funds UNITED COMMUNITY CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds MILWAUKEE INSTITUTE OF ART & DESIGN INC ↗
  • Who funds REPAIRERS OF THE BREACH INC ↗
  • Who funds Core El Centro Incorporated ↗
  • Who funds COLLEGE POSSIBLE INC ↗
  • Who funds MILWAUKEE YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA INC ↗
  • Who funds VISION FORWARD ASSOCIATION INCORPORATED ↗
  • Who funds FIRST STAGE MILWAUKEE ↗
  • Who funds SECUREFUTURES FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds FLORENTINE OPERA COMPANY INC ↗
  • Who funds BROADSCOPE DISABILITY SERVICES INC ↗
  • Who funds MILWAUKEE CHAMBER THEATRE LTD ↗
  • Who funds Optimist Theatre ↗
  • Who funds Pearls for Teen Girls Inc ↗
  • Who funds WOODLAND PATTERN INC ↗
  • Who funds DISCOVERY WORLD LTD ↗
  • Who funds BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF GREEN COUNTY INC ↗
  • Who funds ARTS AT LARGE INC ↗

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Herbert H Kohl Charit…Greater Milwaukee Fou…Evan & Marion Helfaer…Green Bay Packers Fou…Ralph Evinrude Founda…Youth Foundation IncUnited Way of Greater…Bert L and Patricia S…Anon Charitable TrustDorothy Inbusch Found…Weiss Family Foundati…Harri Hoffmann Family…
Herbert H Kohl Charities IncWI121.9× affinity63 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Herbert H Kohl Charities Inc · Greater Milwaukee Foundation Inc · Evan & Marion Helfaer Foundation · Green Bay Packers Foundation · Ralph Evinrude Foundation Inc · Youth Foundation Inc · United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County Inc · Bert L and Patricia S Steigleder Charitable · Anon Charitable Trust · Dorothy Inbusch Foundation Inc · Weiss Family Foundation · Harri Hoffmann Family Foundation Inc

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Gardner Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Gardner Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    38report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    typical government reliance, FY20–25
    How this is measured
    Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Gardner Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Gardner Foundation through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

    Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 132 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

    How this is measured
    Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

    Generated from the IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Gardner’s filings →

    More from the funding graph

    The unnamed billions
    grants reported with no recipient in the public record
    The regranting layer
    51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
    The DAF merry-go-round
    $9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
    The endowment market
    who holds foundation money, and what just moved
    The camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home